Thousands of Fijians have over the years felt the brunt of natural disasters, with many left without aid, relief or assistance, especially farmers. As a partner of the UN Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF) Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP), the Consumer Council of Fiji, as a consumer watchdog, is advocating for financial literacy and increased education on strategies such as financial planning.

Towards this end, the Council supports UNCDF’s parametric micro-insurance product to help beneficiaries mitigate cyclone-related damage.

The Council noted that while some farmers had some knowledge about disaster risk insurance, they lacked full access to the products. This could be problematic, particularly with a product designed with farmers in mind. To improve understanding, accessibility, and uptake the Council is raising awareness about it.

The Council notes that 90% of the people that they visited had not heard about disaster risk insurance or parametric micro-insurance. This provided the basis for the Council to conduct robust awareness campaigns among the potential beneficiaries of the parametric insurance product.

“People need to understand this product better before they use it,” stated Consumer Council of Fiji’s focal lead on the project, Vinash Singh.

“As an advocacy partner of UNCDF, we are conducting financial literacy training and introducing the concept of parametric insurance: what are things to look out for and any grievances that they may have. Overall, it is about people upskilling their knowledge about disaster risk insurance. We are going out in settlements and villages, and also introducing this product, through advocacy.”

The Council noted that COVID-19-related movement restrictions were a challenge in terms of conducting face-to-face financial literacy training for the target communities. While virtual training was an option, the Council felt face-to-face training sessions had more impact, as some participants were not familiar with digital tools and devices. There are plans to complete financial literacy training sessions in the Central, Western and Northern divisions, with site visits to other villages.

For the Council, a review and reflection of their work would determine the next step to improving their services. It involves follow up visitations to the communities that received financial literacy training to observe any changes in behavioral/attitudes in financial literacy. This includes whether or not participants had signed up for the parametric micro-insurance product, and whether they implemented changes to their financial planning and personal money management habits.

“There is a misconception that insurance is only for the rich class; that it is not for farmers,” stated Mr Singh.

“We need to change that mindset. They need to be educated on how it would benefit them. This is where we need continuous advocacy and to be fluid in how we conduct advocacy. Instead of just training sessions, we could incorporate the use of social media, local talk-back shows and different mediums to reach people. Our approach in an iTaukei village is to conduct awareness in that language so that people can understand,” said Mr Singh.

The Council is also reaching out to community leaders to spread the word about the importance of disaster risk insurance. Affordability is another major strength, according to Mr Singh, with consumers paying as little as $1.99 a week to purchase the product.

With regards to product weakness, the Council noted that feedback from communities indicated the need for a variety of insurance products and an increase in the sum that could be insured.

The Council believes that ensuring the product is demand-oriented is important, hence, conducting a demand assessment was vital. Moving forward, it is important to develop products based on demand, how much consumers are willing, or able to pay. “We need to show them exactly how much they will pay for insurance cover before they decide on the product,” stated Mr Singh.

Regarding product sustainability, the Council is encouraging that financial and insurance literacy and their safety net nature provided by is strengthened in the school curriculum and the community.

“When children learn about it, this would be engrained in them,” stated Mr Singh. “We need to inform consumers how this product helps them, even when there is no cyclone.”

Council noted that advocacy is vital for effecting change in farmers’ perceptions about the parametric micro-insurance product. The use of different communication platforms to reach potential beneficiaries and intended target groups could be effective in rural villages.

The Council has also embedded PICAP activities in its in-house staff training for Western and Northern sectors and is working with Consumers International, an international umbrella for consumer bodies around the world. The Council’s debt management and research department is active in providing advice in planning, savings, budgeting and insurance.

“CCF focuses on consumer issues and has been in existence for 44 years. We’ve done a lot of work, so when we advocate, people take it positively,” Mr Singh shared.

The Council also noted that the inclusion of women, disabled persons and small, micro and medium enterprises was important for any pilot project. This could be facilitated by the households making financial decisions collectively, which the Council encourages during community visits. The Council is also working with stakeholders such as the Pacific Disability Forum to ensure increased visibility and participation of these groups.

The Council commends the UNCDF for rolling out the product and supports the initiative.